Argentina Commemorates the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust Within the Framework of the International
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Argentina commemorates the International Day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust Within the framework of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust – which was settled by the United Nations in 2005 in remembrance of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945- yesterday the national government organized its ceremony, which was attended by members of the national government, authorities of the City of Buenos Aires, survivors and members of different organizations of the Jewish community and the civil society committed with the Holocaust remembrance. The ceremony was organized by the Argentinean Chapter of the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance), the main international organization dedicated to the research, remembrance and education on the Holocaust. The IHRA is currently integrated by 31 member countries: States of Europe, Israel, United States, Canada and Argentine (which is the only full member of Latin America). The IHRA Local Chapter is formed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice and Humans Rights (represented by the Secretary of Humans Rights and Cultural Pluralism) and organizations of the civil society. It has an annual rotating Chairmanship among the Ministries, being in 2016 Chaired by the Secretary of Humans Rights and Cultural Pluralism from the Ministry of Justice and Humans Rights. In this opportunity, the ceremony was held together with the inauguration of the National Monument to honor Holocaust Survivors and also with the inauguration of the “Paseo de los Justos” (The Righteous Square). The Monument consists of a concrete wall composed by 114 cubes with impressions of objects of everyday life, emphasizing the absence of the human being through these marks carved on stone. The “Paseo de los Justos” was made in memory of the persons who had a brave commitment with humanity and risked their lives to save thousands of lives during the Holocaust. It is composed by 26 plaques to honor: Manuel Muñoz Romero (Ecuador), Jules Gerarud Saliege, (France), Dimitrios Chrysostomos (Greece), Istuan Zsigmond (Hungary), Giorgio Perlasca (Italy), Emilie Schindler y Oskar Schindler (Germany), Ara Jeretzian (Armenia), Anton Schmid (Austria), Luis Martins de Souza Dantas (Brazil), Dimitar Peshev (Bulgaria), María Errazuriz (Chile) y Ho Feng Shan (China), Zarko Dolinar (Croatia), Pueblo Danés (Denmark), Antanas Babonas (Lithuania), José María Barreto (Per), Anna Borkowska (Poland), Milena Herbenova (Czech Republic), Nikolai Leschinger (Russia), Raoul Wallenberg (Sweden), Selahattin ÜlkÜmen (Turkey), José Arturo Castellano (El Salvador), Sempo Sugihara (Japan), Anna e Iossef Nazaruk (Belarús), Pavel y Lyubov Gerasimchik (Ukraine) y Arístides De Sousa Mendes (Portugal). After the traditional candle lighting and speeches, a video with a message from President Mauricio Macri was screened. The video showed when the President received Holocaust survivors residing in Argentina at the Presidential House, on January 25th. The active participation of Argentina in the Holocaust remembrance is part of a State policy on human rights, in which remembrance, research and education on the Shoah - as a paradigmatic genocide- represents a specific way of preventing other mass atrocities. .